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Thursday, August 30, 2012

He
walked toward two kids holding a carton of beers. “You’re not old enough to
drink.” he said, sternly.

The
two kids looked ready to argue, but upon seeing his face, reluctantly gave him
the cartons and scurried away.

Luis
Sanchez’s eyes followed the kids until they were lost in the crowd. The
carnival was gathering a large crowd. Locals as well as tourists were walking
about excitedly, shouting aloud, kissing and hugging. They were there for fun.
He was there for work. It was his job to maintain law and order during the
carnival.

Luis
smiled sardonically. Law and Order. It was his dream to study Law in Stanford
or Harvard, but he soon realized that it was only going to be a dream. His
father had died when he was 11 years old, leaving his mother with three
children to fend for. He had to take care of his younger ones. Gabriella had
been three and Miguel just ten months, hence they couldn’t care for themselves.

At
first, he had continued to believe in his dream. He was always a straight A’s
student, had been captain of his high school football team, won The Hunk Of The
Year Award at age 16 and had even gotten a scholarship to Stanford. Then it
happened.

He
still felt fury build up in him whenever he remembered what happened. He had to
let go of his dreams and with Richard’s help, he became a cop. He chose now to
protect others from being hurt by the rich and powerful.

He
hated the Charlwoods with his whole heart.

It
infuriated him that his mother worked for them just as his father had before he
died. He knew his mother stayed because of Rose Charlwood. She was a good boss,
the only different one and he knew that she had wanted to finance his
education, just like Richard had wanted to. But he rejected the offer. He
didn’t want anything attached to the Charlwoods and he was too proud to let Richard
sponsor his education, especially since Richard had kids.

He
respected Richard Bennett. He was his mentor, his ‘adopted’ elder brother and
friend. Richard was the reason he chose to be a cop instead of a social worker
and he has never regretted his decision.

“You
had better.” She replied and after giving him a final kiss, she walked away.

Luis
looked around and saw Richard chatting animatedly with someone. After a closer
look, he realized that it was Justin, Richard’s son. He then noticed a blonde
walking towards them, her eyes on Justin. Luis felt a strange kind of
curiosity, which surprised him but some troublemakers caught his eye and he had
to look away and concentrate on his work

Wednesday, August 29, 2012

“Other
mothers would be proud of him.” Soledad Sanchez told her, shaking her head. She
knew that wasn’t what was bothering Rose. Rose was as proud as a peacock over Justin.
He had turned out far better than what her father had predicted would become of
‘Rose’s son for that peasant’. Former Governor Crane had been furious when his
daughter had become pregnant for lowly Richard Bennett and she had told him she
had no intention of aborting or giving up her baby.

Rose
was mad that Justin didn’t come to see her first. Rose was mad that Justin had
chosen to go to his father’s house instead of hers. Rose was mad that Grace was
going to see her son before her, was going to hug her son before her.

“You
know Justin adores you but he doesn’t get along with Ben.”

“He
gets along with Grace.” Rose retorted.

“And
that is good, Rose.” Soledad said soothingly, “Grace being friends with him
allows him to get along with his sisters and his father.”

“Justin
changed his name to Bennett.”

“You
can’t expect him to continue bearing the name of his grandfather who dislikes
him.” Soledad replied, privately feeling that ‘dislike’ was too mild a word to
use to refer to how Rose’s father felt about Justin.

“I
know Soledad, I’m just been unreasonable.” Rose said after taking a deep
breath, “I’m just angry that Grace gets Justin just like she got Richard.”

“Stop
talking like that. The last thing you want is for Ben to hear you.”

“Who
cares? Besides, he must be with his mistress right now.”

The
door bell rang. “Excuse me.”, Soledad said and left Rose in the private drawing
room. She walked into the grand sitting room and got to the door. On opening
it, she saw the face she disliked and schooled her facial features to a neutral
expression.

Rebecca
and Kathleen Hotchkiss walked in haughtily, not saying a word to Soledad.
Rebecca Hotchkiss was Rose’s upper-class friend and classmate who also married late
Banking mogul, Ben Hotchkiss. She was medium in height with a robust figure,
red gold hair accomplished by the best hair stylist in the area, with cold blue
eyes. Her daughter, Kathleen was model slim and tall with cornflower blond hair
cut shoulder length and blue eyes.

Rebecca
tried to look extremely pleased to see Rose but the truth was she was terribly
jealous of Rose. She pretends to be a good friend but Soledad and Rose
privately knew that from the day Rose Crane became Rose Charlwood, Rebecca had
made Rose her sworn enemy. The fact that Rose was richer than Rebecca could
ever hope to be was privately driving her mad. Rebecca would have really loved
to be Mrs. Charlwood but Alistair Charlwood, the patriarch of the family wanted
an alliance with the then-Governor Crane and didn’t mind that Rose had a son
out of wedlock. That in particular had infuriated her because it was Rebecca
who had told Rose’s father that his daughter was pregnant. Rose had told her
confidentially and had even announced that she was running away with Richard to
marry him. Rebecca had never supported her friend’s relationship with ‘that
peasant boy’; truth be told, she was half jealous of Rose’s getting such a hot
guy’s attention. If she were honest to herself, she had wanted his attention
too and was really annoyed that he had taken an interest in Rose.

Rebecca
wished now that she hadn’t done that. Governor Hotchkiss was so furious that he
made sure Rose never saw Richard again and would have gotten his way in having
the pregnancy terminated had Rose not vowed to tell the story to the press. Not
up to a year later, when Justin was but four months old had Rose been coerced
to marry Ben Charlwood. Rebecca was angry because she had wanted Ben for
herself, having kissed him in the Governor’s gardens on the day of the
announcement of their engagement. Unknown to Rose, Rebecca had been trying to
seduce Ben for two years now.

She
forced a beautiful smile and hugged Rose, “It’s been so long, Rose.”

“You
too, Rebecca. You’re looking good.”

“Hello,
Rose.”

“Kathleen,
my dear. It’s been so long.” Rose hugged her and looked at her up and down. “My
God, you have grown to be such a beauty.”

“Thank
you, Rose. You’re as gorgeous as ever.” Kathleen replied.

Soledad
came into the room with some refreshment as the three ladies sat down.

“How’s
Ben?”

“Somewhere,
I don’t care.” Rose answered Rebecca.

Rebecca
laughed. “His mistress?”

“I
suppose so. I can’t believe Annette would stab me on the back like that.”

“Oh,
come on, Rose. You banished the poor man from your bedroom for ten years and
you expect him to be celibate?”

“Of
course I don’t expect him to be celibate. He has been cheating long before I
banished him, even from the beginning of our marriage. I just didn’t expect my
Personal Assistant to be one of his playthings. I can’t believe I actually
offered her a room in this house.” Rose sipped her tea and continued, “I’ll
never forget the day I actually caught them in the bedroom.”

Rebecca
hid a grin. The scene had been so appalling she wished she was there. Hell, she
wished Rose would tell her to move permanently to the house. The Charlwood
mansion was so magnificent and beautiful she would actually feel like a queen
in a castle.

“Enough
about my ‘fascinating’ home life. Kathleen, I can’t believe how much you’ve
grown.”

“Yeah,
she’s a CPA now.” Rebecca said with pride.

“Justin
is an attorney now. In fact, he actually got a job with Winthrop, Winthrop and
Winthrop.” Rose couldn’t resist retorting that way.

“Please,
his mother is Rose Charlwood.” Rebecca said, as if his achievement meant
nothing.

“He
actually got it without my interference.” Rose said, realizing how proud she
was of that fact, “You know Justin has been a bit touchy about my influence.”

“That’s
true.” Rebecca said, privately thinking that Justin was a fool and that she
knew just what to do with the Charlwood influence.

“I’ll
really love to see Justin again.” Kathleen said.

Rose
smiled, remembering that Kathleen and Justin had attended the Richarde boarding
school and had even dated for a while.

“It
would really be nice if you can rekindle that old romance.” Rose teased and
then sobered up immediately, “That is, if there’s no other-”

“Justin
has always been the love of my life.”

“Great!
I’m totally in support of any romance between you too. Think of it, Rebecca.
We’ll be in-laws!”

Rebecca
laughed, “I agree. Justin is definitely a hunk like his father.”

Rose
laughed but inside she felt a lot of pain. Justin was definitely like his
father.

Monday, August 27, 2012

It
was a bright sunny morning in Peaceville. The leaves on the trees were turning
yellow, showing that summer was ending. Everyone was in a happy mood. It was
one of those days when it seemed like the birds were singing because they felt
delighted.

The
carnival was on. Everyone was getting ready to be in their best. Everywhere was
filled with the brightest colors. Girls were giggling, boys were being boys.
Many were preparing to be dressed in different costumes. Hawaiian, Spanish and
Indian costumes were going to be prominent.

Justin
Bennett looked on smiling from the taxi. It felt so good to be back in Peaceville.
To have a job waiting for him was an added bonus. He was the best in his class
in Harvard and a job at Winthrop, Winthrop and Winthrop Law Firm was something
he had definitely earned on his own, not by virtue of the fact that his mother
was Rose Charlwood, the wife of the heir to the Charlwood Empire.

His
dad was the first person he told the news. Richard Bennett was really pleased
and reserved: pleased that his son got something without the Charlwood
influence and reserved because his son is an attorney. He is the Chief of
Police in Peaceville and it’s well known that there’s no love lost between the
police and attorneys.

The
taxi stopped in front of a beautiful house with a well-taken care of lawn. Justin
came out of the taxi, sighed deeply and started smiling at the house.

“Gone
a long time?” the taxi driver asked, smiling.

“Yeah.”,
He replied and paid him his fare.

He
walked towards the house and on getting to the door, pressed the doorbell. He
heard the sound of running footsteps and smiled, knowing who was running like
that.

The
door was opened by a brown haired pretty girl who jumped on Justin.

“He’s
BACK!!!!”

Justin
laughed and carrying her, turned her around.

“It’s
sooo good to see you again, Dora.”

“I
missed you big!”

“God,
I missed you too!”

“Let
go of my brother, you idiot”, said another voice.

Justin
smiled. Diana would never change, always fighting with her younger sister. “Come
here, pretty.” He said and also hugged her.

Diana
Bennett was taller and slimmer than Dora with longer brown hair. Both his
sisters looked like their mum, who had also come outside waiting for her hug.
Grace Bennett was a petite brunette with a heart of gold.

“It’s
so good to see you, Grace.” He said, hugging her tightly.

“Oh,
Justin. Welcome home.”

They
all got into the beautiful sitting room, decorated by the homely Grace herself.
Justin sniffed the air.

“Something
good smells.”

“My
famous apple pie.”

“I
missed your apple pie.” He told Grace who laughed fondly.

“Oh
Justin, it’s really good you’re back today. The carnival this year is going to
be great!” Dora said, excitedly.

“Yeah,
Peaceville’s famous Carnival!” Justin said, remembering the last carnival he
was around for. The carnival consisted of dances from various groups and most
especially, The Hunk of the Year and The Most Beautiful Girl of Peaceville
Awards. He was sixteen then, just back on holiday from the Swiss boarding
school his mother had sent him to. He recalled clearly that a Latino guy, 18
year old Luis Sanchez had won The Hunk of the Year Award. The reason he
remembered Luis so well was because his father was really fond of the
fatherless boy and was in fact like a second father to him. He recalled that at
that time, he really felt jealous of Luis Sanchez.

“I
recall the last festival I went to, Luis Sanchez won…..”

“God,
that was like soooo long ago.” Dora said, “in fact, Luis is now a cop.”

“Really.
That’s good.” Justin said, realizing that Luis had gone for something his
father would have wanted him to do. Richard would have been so happy had Justin
chosen to be a cop.

“His
sister, Gabriella was The Most Beautiful Girl of Harmony last two years...”

“And
his younger brother is going to be The Hunk of the Year.” Diana said, rather
breathlessly.

“You
would know that.” Dora said, mischievously.

“Shut
up, dweeb!” Diana retorted.

“No
insulting, Diana.” Grace said, wearily.

“I
didn’t know Luis had a sister.” Justin said.

“Gabriella
is the nicest prettiest girl I know.” Dora said.

“I’m
pretty.” Diana said.

“You’re
not nice.” Dora retorted.

“I
missed you girls.” Justin said, hugging them close, thus putting an end to
their argument.

“You
really are in Peaceville for good?” Grace asked. Dora and Diana looked up at Justin
hopefully.

“Yes,
I am.” Justin said to the happy faces, “I’m going to work here, play here, fall
in love here, get married here, have my kids here, the whole deal- here.”

“That’s
a lot of things you’re going to do here.” Richard said, entering the house.

“Dad!”

Justin
and Richard hugged each other tightly. Richard looked at Justin from top to
bottom. “You’re looking good, Justin Bennett.”

Today, i just started blogging for the first time. What do i talk about? Music? Movie? My Stories? AUTOCAD? Web designing? Gosh! I have so many interests that i can't think of the one to write about. Oh well, anything that pops out of my head would be ok.